Wings Would Be Useful
by PlaceForUs
Summary: The time Jace neglected to mention a very important detail about the day's training. One-shot. Cover art by CassandraJP


**So this one has been sitting on my laptop for a while now, but I edited it last night and now that I'm happy with it (I originally wrote it on my phone and it was _dreadful_), I've decided to upload it to see what you guys think. It's pretty short to what I'm used to, but then again, it is only a oneshot. Some of you may recognise it from my old account (though it is noticeably longer now). Please excuse any errors, I'm not the best at spell checking. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it :)**

**ONWARDS**

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**(Wings Would Be Useful)**

It was Autumn, and late afternoon light filtered into the training room, dousing everything in a warm amber glow and sparking of polished metal like fire. Light reflected off blades, maces and a variety of spikes hanging from the walls, and once again, Clary Fairchild found herself fearing for her life.

"Jace." Clary ground out through gritted teeth, her squared off nails biting into soft wood and her legs wrapped around the wooden beam beneath her like her life depended on it, which she was quite certain it did. "Get me down. _Now_." _It'll be fun_, Jace had said, _we'll start your intermediate training_, he'd said. What Jace had neglected to mention was that Clary's 'intermediate training' took place on the training room rafters. No wires. No nets. Just Clary, some dodgy looking beams that creaked like old hinges under her weight, and air.

Jace stopped for a moment and considered the request, one arm propping the other as he rubbed his chin in mock thought. Dark swirling runes snaked up his arms, a collections of interlocking lines on his tanned skinned. "Nope," He said, restarting his pace and stepping from beam to beam with total confidence and without so much as a squeak of protest from them. He hopped from one support to another, a smug grin stuck to his face and an air to him like he wasn't walking three odd stories in the air but on his way to the park. "I don't think so." He continued.

Clary tightened her grip and pulled her body closer to the wood, her body tensing like a drawn bow. The beams shuddered beneath her, reacting to Jace's footfalls. He laughed at her wide eyed expression of terror and she shot him a look of pure resentment. "Jesus Christ Jace I'm going to kill you!" She screamed, the edges of the wooden support beginning to dig into her gut and sides.

"Now _that's_ the spirit."

Clary squeezed her eyes shut until the beams become stable again and slitted them opened them to find Jace grinning like the cheshire cat, quite pleased with himself and even happier with Clary's obvious discomfort. He stood at an intersection of beams only a few meters away and sunlight streamed through an open hatch to his right, turning the tips of his hair gold and putting half his face in shadows.

Gathering her courage, Clary began to shimmy her way up the beam like a horizontal climbing rope, her eyes set on Jace.

He brushed dust off his black training shirt and rose an eyebrow. "What are you doing?" He said.

"I'm coming to maul your ankles"

"You look like a caterpillar"

"A caterpillar that's coming to maul your ankles."

He closed the gap between them and grabbing her under the arms, gently but firmly pulled her upright. As always, he smelled of pepper and metal.

She dug her nails into his biceps as he tugged her up and didn't let go even we his hands dropped to his sides. "Ouch." He deadpanned, looking down at his upper arm and then to Clary, then back again. "Are you going to let go?"

Clary shook her head, biting her tongue to drown the scream growing in her throat.

A pigeon swooped suddenly through open hatch and zipped passed Clary's face, surprising her and knocking her off balance, which Jace quickly righted. He winced at the increased pressure of her nails sinking deeper into his arm. "Ooh, careful with the merchandise, Hun."

"Really, 'Hun'?" She said, ignoring the tremor in her voice. "What's next, Sweetums?" She was trying to hide her panic with snarky humour, though Clary noted that Jace was much better at it.

He nuzzled his head into the crook of her neck and chuckled, sending pleasant vibrations to tickle the sensitive unMarked skin and almost successfully taking her mind off the view below, though not quite. His hair brushed her jaw and sent a shiver down her spine.

An idea blossoming in her mind like a flower, she ran her hands down his arms and looped them around his waist, forcing down the momentary terror at the lack of contact and risk of falling and becoming a bloody red mural on the hardwood floors down below. "Jace," She purred into his ear, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand.

"Mhmm?" He murmured, trailing sweet kisses along her jaw before finally brushing his lips against hers, his eyes half hooded and dark with affection. His hand moved to cup her cheeks and his over rested on the small of her back, and she trusted his unfaltering balance alone to keep them upright. Only slightly, she pulled back so she could look him in the eyes, those golden eyes that had engrained themselves into her mind ever since she first saw him in Pandemonium all those months ago. Clary lazily begun drawing patterns on Jace's spine and relished in satisfaction when his pupils blew out, covering everything but a thin circle of gold. "Why don't we take this elsewhere?" She whispered, biting her lip for emphasis.

He smiled crookedly, flashing a chipped incisor. "I quite like that idea." He murmured into the shell of her ear, his hold on her shifting to her waist and tightening, pulling Clary's body flush against his.

Quite suddenly, the air seemed thin and Clary's head went fuzzy and her cheeks began to flame a bright pink. Her eyes flickered to and from his pink lips and she inched closer, feeling the heat seep of him in waves and crash over her–

"But," Jace pulled away, keeping his grip on her. Clary frowned. "We have to finish your balance training. So perhaps we can continue this _interlude_," He tucked a stray red curl from her ponytail behind her ear, his fingers lingering on her alabaster skin seconds longer than necessary. "At a later time?"

Setting her jaw, Clary shook her head. "Nope, I don't think so." She said, throwing his words back at him. Jace's eyebrows furrowed together and he opened his mouth as if to argue, but Clary continued on. "Either balance training stops now, or there will not be a continuation of this _interlude._" She warned. "You're choice. But make it quick, because if I'm not back on the ground in 10 seconds–"

Jace's eyes flashed with the acceptance of a challenge and Clary's feet were swept out from under her. Convinced she was falling, she brought her arms to her chest and squeezed her eyes shut, completely unaware of the arms wrapped around her. Somehow against all laws of physics, Clary found herself back on the ground with stable flooring beneath her feet. She would never say it to Jace's face, because his already too-big-for-his-body ego would only inflate further, but she had to admit, it was an impressive feat.

Her taught muscles loosened up now that she wasn't facing impending death, and she smiled up at Jace, who was already looking down at her with that grin that she in equal amount loved and hated. "I've got you wrapped around my little finger, don't I?" Clary said, taking a step away and spinning from his arms.

He scoffed and smirked down at her, quickly closing the space as if it physically pained him to have any distance between them, and pressed his forehead lightly against hers and she placed her hands on his chest, his heartbeat beneath her palm. Then he whispered so softly that Clary almost missed it, his breath warm against her face. "You've always had a talent for that."

She kissed him, a wild tangle of lips, tongues and teeth, and wound her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck, pulling him closer. His hands rested on the curve of her hips and with every movement or noise, Clary bent to his will, knowing full well that she was just as wrapped around his little finger as he was around hers.

And she wouldn't have it any other way.

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**Short but sweet :)**

**I've mostly been focusing on a Clace fic I've been writing for a little while now, but everything's just so _angsty _that I desperately needed something light. It'd be awesome if you would review, because I love feedback (I've got a long way to go before I'll ever be _completely _happy with my writing, but we have to start somewhere)_  
_**

**Love and cookies**

**~ PFU**


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